Many systems use light emitting diodes (LEDs) to generate light. For example, LEDs are often used in traffic control devices to generate light of different colors. As a particular example, a traffic lamp may use LED panels to generate red, yellow, and green light. Each LED panel could include multiple strings of LEDs, where each string includes multiple LEDs coupled in series. Each string generates light when a current flows through that string.
A problem with conventional LED devices is that individual LED strings can fail, which interrupts the current through the string. When this happens, the amount of light that is generated by the LED panel drops, which requires maintenance of the panel and the associated time, effort, and cost.